Still, there were other items on the candidate's resume that seemed
sketchy to recruiter Kim Knoll.

First, she couldn't verify that he had a degree from the school
he said he attended in England, says Knoll, senior information technology
recruiter at Executive Resources Ltd. in Des Moines. The high-level
information technology exec supposedly had a bachelor's degree in
information management.

Second, he'd sent in two different versions of his resume: one
listing his degree, the other not.

"He had this outstanding resume and he had all these grandiose
stories," Knoll says. "And then something just clicked in my head,
that something wasn't right."

Fibbing, padding, misrepresenting, embellishing, falsifying, inflating
-- you name it, people are doing more of it on their resumes, says
Edward C. Andler. He's in the business of sorting out fact from
fiction.

Lying on resumes, Andler says, has increased significantly in the
last five years.

"About one out of 10 who claim that they have a degree do not have
one," says Andler, co-author with Dara Herbst of the book The
Complete Reference Checking Handbook: The Proven (and Legal) Way
to Prevent Hiring Mistakes. For those in sales, that number
increases to one out of seven.

"People know that they have friends that have gotten by in a job
market by pretty much fabricating a lot of aspects of who they are
and what they can do," says Andler, founder of St. Louis-based Certified
Reference Checking Co. The human resources consultants specialize
in background screening and reference checking.

He's witnessed the dubious bios that include elevated salaries
and extended employment dates to cover gaps due to unemployment
and firings.

Andler says many employers, understaffed and in a hiring slowdown,
just aren't taking the time to do thorough checks on resumes.

One of Andler's tricks to catch a fibber: Read back to the previous
employer the type of work the individual described doing in his
or her last job.

"You'd be absolutely amazed how many times they'll say, 'Hey, read
that again,' or say, 'Hey, that's out of line,' and correct it,"
he says.

One faux pas Knoll often sees on resumes: People state that they're
still with a company although they're no longer there.

Another problem: padding salaries.

"It's a very personal issue," Knoll admits. "But if you're going
to work for someone and we're not starting off on an honest foot,
it just doesn't seem like it can lead to anything. It's a scary
tightrope to walk."

Some candidates put the years they attended college, omitting the
fact that they don't have a degree, says Marna Hayden, former national
board member of the Society of Human Resource Management.

A good employer will combine reference checking and a thorough
interview to figure out whether someone is failing to tell the entire
truth says Hayden, who is senior vice president of human resources
at Nazareth National Bank in Bethlehem, Pa.

While lying is common, she says many times younger people are candid
about sharing personal weaknesses.

Seiser says people often list that they're proficient in all types
of different software.

"But they maybe just opened it once, or changed a word, but didn't
start something from scratch," she says.

Andler has heard some doozies from stammering resume-padders once
they are confronted with their lies. He told one candidate that
the college he went to had no record of him receiving a degree there.

His response?

"He said, 'Well, maybe the school has moved,' " Andler says.

He's found that pressing truth-stretchers for answers is sometimes
"like you're crashing through their imagination," he says with a
laugh.

"They've carried that aura about them for so long that they've
started to believe it."

The bottom line, experts say: Don't take chances. Play it straight.

"Sooner or later, you get things so twisted up that it falls apart,"
Andler says. "It's embarrassing and disheartening. Sell yourself
for strengths that you have, and your accomplishments."

Also, Hayden noted, a resume littered with falsehoods could put
you in a job that's not the best fit for you or the company.

When Knoll's curiosity was piqued last year by a candidate's long
list of accolades, a quick call confirmed her intuitiveness. Mensa
said he'd never been a member.

Weekly WorkBytes column written by and for Gen-Xers learning
the realities of the workplace. Dawn Sagario and Chad Graham of
The Des Moines Register take turns writing this column each week.
Write the columnists at The Des Moines Register, P.O. Box 957, Des
Moines, Iowa 50304-0957.